The Harvest Moon Consortium

[Winterhawk99]

Even though the fight is dying down it is still a battle and it looks as if both Balan and Fwangzhu have been deemed enemy combatants to the samurai and his men at arms. T’kharr starts to ward herself defensively. She prepares to assist or relieve Mingzhu if need be or help Balan get the samurai on the ground. She seems undecided. She casts Magic Vestment as the battle rages around her, but she hasn’t gotten involved directly yet…

The samurai seethes, glaring at Balan and Mingzhu, “Your interference has cost us dearly! The life of the magistrate is lost! Both of you will drop your weapons and submit to arrest!"

Mingzhu yells at him, “I have no weapons! I struck no one. The magistrate could not be gotten too. STOP THE FIGHTING! It is useless now. all these dead and for what......EGO! PRIDE! so many dead." Tears come to her eyes. Balan tries to grapple the man once again.

Fwangzhu attacks one of the Daimyo’s men on him. Mingzhu shouts at him. “FWANGZHU STOP ATTACKING!" He nearly cuts down one of the men at arms on him. The manis almost dead; the others keep attacking in turn. They all miss him as he ducks and dodges blades.

Mingzhu sees T’kharr come in to support Balan. She sidesteps and tries to get between Fwangzhu and those he is fighting attempting to take any blows thrown by either side. The samurai attacks Balan. “Surrender and be spared, refuse and be slain!” He misses the dragonborn with both his cuts as they bounce off the paladin’s thick armor.

Mingzhu yells at him, “IF YOU STOP THE FIGHTING, ORDER AN END WE WILL SURRENDER!" Silgara is nowhere in sight. Zsikhou runs towards the battlefield but doesn’t take any action yet. He isn’t in range for a shot. The Daimyo’s men seem to be closing on their position.

T'kharr decides to try something a bit different -- she pulls out one of her Command scrolls and barks out a few words in western Common, followed by Low Shou for "Surrender!" aimed squarely at the Samurai but he resists it and now he seems like he’s now considering T’kharr as an active combatant.

The samurai breaks Balan’s hold and cuts him. Fwangzhu noting Mingzhu trying to get between her and the other men at arms, hesitates a moment then snarls. "What the fuck are you doing?!?"

She continues her blocking strategy, but this time calls out to both sides try to be diplomatic, "THE MAGISTATE IS DEAD, PLEASE ALL OF YOU PUT DOWN YOUR ARMS SO WE MAY TALK ABOUT WHAT HAS HAPPENED. THERE NEED BE NO MORE KILLING!"

The Samurai points his blade at Mingzhu, Balan, and T'kharr, he seems to order a 'hold' to his men, but more of them come around. "You, you, and you, all of you, on your knees, drop your weapons if you have them, and hands up. You will submit to arrest." It seems there's others on other fronts of the battle still fighting though.

Fwangzhu snarls "Fuck that!" Zsikhou moves next to Mingzhu but takes no other action but to try to look snuggly glare at those around.

The shamaness breathes a sigh of relief and goes to her knees. “Tell the others’ samurai to stop the fighting. Too many have died already.”

T’kharr looks at Fwangzhu raging and can easily tell he intends to keep killing the Daimyo’s men. She looks back and forth then to Balan. “I think we may need the barrel again.” Then she looks for a path to escape. She casts Sanctuary and heads toward the inner city, “Recon I should fetch our missing man.”

Balan disengages and heads to stop Fwangzhu saying, “A holy paladin does not answer to you samurai. I only answer to the gods.”

The Samurai looks over to his men, then to Balan and Fwangzhu "So be it. Men, arrest the woman and execute the other two." One of the Daimyo’s men handcuffs Mingzhu. She doesn’t resist. They pull her away and towards their ship. Fwangzhu however keeps fighting downing another of the samurai’s men. The samurai rushes over and puts a nasty cut in the hengeyokai’s gut. The men at arms rally at seeing the samurai cut Fwangzhu deeply get in several more cuts against him.

Zsikhou snarls and hisses at the man with Mingzhu "That is a Shamaness of the path you are arresting, what do you think you are doing?!" Zsikhou currently looks like he's glaring at the soldier who's handling her shackles like he's looking for any excuse to give snuggles beat him senseless.

Meanwhile Balan tries to pull Fwangzhu away, “Time to Stop!” Several soldiers try to strike the Dragonborn but again his armor protects him.

Fwangzhu snarls "Those fuckers just ordered your execution!"

Balan steps in between Fwangzhu and his attackers. “I said enough! All of you!” Several soldiers again attack him, but his armor proves too much for their weapons.

The men at arms go to attack, though some hesitate. Fwangzhu snarls "They're going to fucking cut your head off!" He takes another spear in the shoulder. He’s on his last legs.

As T’kharr runs to the center of the city and away from the battle lines there is an eerie silence that comes. A Stillness. As those who are alive are hiding in their homes. She heads to the courthouse to try to find Minamoto.

The samurai keeps going after Fwangzhu and Balan. Balan shields Fwangzhu from him while Fwangzhu pants, huffing, trying to push Balan away to get him out of the fire zone. Though he is clearly exhausted. In the turmoil the samurai misses both cuts on them. Silgara watching the whole time invisible begins to move she runs up to Balan and Fwangzhu casting Dimension Door bringing the two with her.

The Samurai look over, “What the...?! Where did they go? What manner of witchery is this?!"

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr eventually finds her way to the courthouse. Minamoto's coming out, armor dented, and his blade covered in blood, he heaves a heavy sigh. "The fighting was too fierce, Nor'vee couldn't get to the magistrate in time. I at least slew the remaining rebels."

T'kharr sighs in some relief as she sees Minamoto emerge "Come, we need you to talk some sense into the samurai before he winds up dragging Mingzhu off in shackles for trying to break up the fighting."

Minamoto looks squarely at T'kharr "What happened?" But he prepares to move as quickly as he can.

"Apparently he got really pissed off when Nor'vee and I brought word to him that the magistrate had fallen -- thought our presence was the reason why instead of realizing that if you and Nor'vee couldn't have pulled it off heading straight to the courthouse on arrival, there's no way he could have marched an army there in time."

Minamoto huffs, "Nor'vee broke off to try to sneak to the Magistrate, but I don't think he got there in time. Not sure where he is now."

"We'll have to find him; he broke off and alerted me and the rest of us that the magistrate had fallen."

[Winterhawk99]

Zsikhou stands at Mingzhu’s side. He’s glaring around, then the Samurai moves over to them. The kobold looks squarely at the samurai, trying to remain demanding despite being half his height. “This is a Shamaness of the path you have shackled. Explain yourself."

The Samurai looks at Zsikhou. "Kami, this one interfered with our duty." He then turns his attention to Mingzhu, “That badger and the scaled... whatever they are. Are they with your company?"

“They are. The scaled one tried to stop the fighting peacefully.”

"And yet he refused to submit to surrender and that badger slew some of my men. How did they escape?" The Samurai narrows his eyes.

Zsikhou narrows his eyes back at the Samurai. "I have need of the Shamaness for greater needs than your petty human conflicts. Release her."

The Samurai looks to Zsikhou, he clearly notes what Zsikhou is, he doesn't seem aware that Zsikhou's lost his blessings. "Kami, I cannot release her, for she interfered with our duties. For now, I need to have the rest of this rebellion put down."

“By more killing? Soljura is already a dead island. The island off of Kizamine has also lost its entire population along with its guardian spirit. Soon, there will be no one left to pay taxes, and you will leave your daimyo because he cannot pay you.” Mingzhu retorts.

Zsikhou glowers, flexing his claws with irritation, then the Samurai looks at Mingzhu. "They murdered one of the Daimyo's magistrates! I am not giving quarter to rebels." he huffs, "But you honorably surrendered, so I will give you a chance to explain yourself. I have not heard of what happened to Kizamine, but I expect an explanation promptly."

The fighting seems to die down, the rebels scattered or hiding. T'Kharr and Minamoto arrive to where Mingzhu is, eventually. Minamoto moves over and gives a bow to the Samurai "My lord, my sincerest apologies, I have failed to rescue the Magistrate."

The Samurai looks over to Minamoto, giving him a nod, then looks to T'kharr. "You, submit yourself to arrest."

"Let ser Minamoto here explain first." Minamoto looks to the Samurai, then to T'kharr.

The Samurai looks over. "You performed hostile spellcasting upon me during that battle. You will submit to arrest."

Minamoto blinks, then looks to T'kharr "You did /what/?"...

"In service of trying to break the battle up." T’kharr replies.

"What you should have done is either not interfered with our duty or assisted us in our lawful duties. Now submit to arrest." The Samurai says.

Minamoto looks over to Mingzhu, then to T'Kharr "I'm going to want an account from you both. But for now, I suggest you comply." Zsikhou hisses with irritation.

T’kharr pulls out some minor cordage and ties herself off...to Minamoto, wrist to wrist "Package deal. You get both of us or neither."

Minamoto looks over to T'kharr, not letting himself get roped. "I am one of the Daimyo's men at arms. I will want a full explanation of what happened here. For now, you had best comply with the lord samurai." He then looks over to the Samurai "I did share the company of these for some time, fighting against threats to the Daimyo's domain. There is much we should confer on. We came here hoping to inform the Magistrate of what we discovered, however it seems we have arrived too late. There is much I should tell you. Though I have not personally witnessed any of them, besides the badger, being rebellious against the Daimyo's rule."

The Samurai looks back to Minamoto "Speaking of them, who else is in your company that is not present now?"

Minamoto speaks. "There is a foreigner Wu Jen, The Badger, who is a rebel and should have been ousted already. There is a foreigner paladin. And there is a Nezumi Darkhunter. I got held up by rebels in the courthouse while the Nezumi tried to rescue the Magistrate, but we did not succeed." Minamoto continues. "I did not expect any of them to interfere with your duties, besides the badger, though I had hoped he would remain under control."

The Samurai glares. "So, you have been travelling with an unsanctioned witch and a rebel. I will hear a detailed explanation from you later, soldier. For now, have the hengeyokai placed under arrest."
Minamoto nods, looking at T'kharr. "Please comply." T'kharr does submit to arrest, handing her staff and sling off to Minamoto for safekeeping.

Minamoto confiscates the weapons. The Samurai looks back at him. "Our mission is mostly done. I'll leave my Lieutenant in charge out here” He pauses, “The rest of you," He barks some orders to his various soldiers. "Back to the boat."

They start marching Mingzhu and T'kharr off. Zsikhou keeps glaring at the Samurai. "This one will stay with the Shamaness. She will not be harmed under my watch."

Minamoto looks over to the Samurai "That Kami is the execution of a storm god. It's best not to anger him."

The Samurai at least nods to that. "Right, you can enter our boat as a guest. But I will want answers from you too. Now we march."

Zsikhou growls, but he follows along, staying in close orbit to Mingzhu.

[Winterhawk99]

Balan and Fwangzhu find themselves on the Beach with Silgara after she uses the Dimension Door spell. Fwangzhu pants some, then snarls at the paladin, "Why the fuck did you try to get in my way there?! That fucker was going to kill us both AND the people here and you know it!!"

Silgara looks over, she's still invisible, she rubs her face. "I don't think we can re-engage. There're too many soldiers there. And I can only manage one more casting of that. I think what we need to do though is get to our boat before the Daimyo's men commandeer it."

Balan places his hands on Fwangzhu and uses his Lay on Hands ability. The hengeyokai’s wounds heal until the worst have closed up. It wasn’t enough to heal him fully, but it was to get him moving with only a few flesh wounds remaining that can be taken care of. They work their way towards the ship slowly watching out for soldiers. Then Silgara gets an idea. She looks over at Balan, Fwangzhu's still breathing heavily. "We'll be stranded here if the Samurai takes our boat. Come on, I didn't teleport us far from the docks. Hopefully if we're lucky the Daimyo's men will be focused on the city and not us."

They head over to where the ship is docked. Silgara's still invisible. There're two guards standing on the boat ramp, but they haven't entered the boat. Silgara looks aside to Balan. "Two soldiers there, guards. I could try to sneak over and shrink the ship, but they might hear me. Invisibility doesn't quiet sound. Plan?"

Fwangzhu huffs, "Could just kill them."

Balan looks at Silgara. “I am not sure talking with them will help but they shouldn’t know what we were doing if they broke off immediately and did not see us.”

Silgara speaks quietly aside. "Then they call for reinforcements and we get swarmed. And you're already severely wounded." Then she looks at Balan. "Probably not. Right, I'm invisible, I'll try to sneak over. Wish me luck." Silgara's invisible, so tries to sneak past the two guards. She's able to slip by quietly, the boat vanishes, then she slips back. The guards look over, blinking, clearly surprised by the vanishing boat. They head to the Daimyo's boat after. Silgara moves back to Balan. "Right, I was hoping you had an idea for what to do next..."

“Well...going back to our friends is probably out of the question as is they want to kill both of us.”

Silgara looks over, a sigh "Got any other ideas then, Balan? I expect if we don't interfere, the... I don't know what they will do to the others. At least T'kharr got away and Mingzhu being a shamaness should be safe. They won't execute Zsikhou either."

Nor'vee eventually reveals himself to them. "Find Dog lady then? Get her out. We can sail off. Find way to get the Kami and Shamaness back later."

Silgara breathes out a sigh of relief. "Well, okay, that's four of us here then. T'kharr went towards the city and is probably hiding there. But Mingzhu got arrested."

“Unless we find a way onto their ship somehow the options are limited. going directly for Mingzhu may be a death sentence for all of us. We could try to find T'Kharr. I believe she went to find Minamoto.” Balan replies.

Fwangzhu snarls, "Oh fucking let her if she wants to."

Nor'vee squeaks. "Could go around and go to city. Avoid main road. Can try to lead to courthouse. Likely more Daimyo's soldiers on the lookout though."

Silgara looks at Balan. "Whatever we do, we'd best decide quickly."

“We should stay as hidden as possible.”

She nods, "I only have so many invisibility spells. At least we have Nor'vee back with us. I figure he's probably our stealthiest. Right, roundabout way… back to the courthouse. Once we're at the city's outskirts, I'll cast an invisibility on Nor'vee, we should try to set up a meeting spot."

Balan looks around at all the chaos. “That sounds like our best option right now avoid all main roads and work ourselves around anyone who is not friendly.”

Fwangzhu huffs, still wounded, but grumbles, going along. "Odds are the people we should have fucking defended are all dead by now. Let’s hurry this shit up. I still owe you a punch in the face after this."
They head off, meanwhile... the other part of the group is marched off, straight to the docks. No detours.

[Winterhawk99]

Eventually Samurai and company go to the docks. There're two guards that go to meet the samurai. "Milord, the boat we were watching just... vanished. Out of nowhere. We didn't see or hear anything. One moment it was there, the other, it was gone." The Samurai looks irritated, then looks to Minamoto.

Minamoto looks over "The witch must have shrunk it, that boat can be shrunk to a figurine and then regrown as a boat. I expect that means the rest of this group have fled."

The Samurai seethes, then huffs, "Then we can find them later. Men, take the Shamaness and the Hengeyokai to the brig. I'll want to finish up here but have them both questioned. Soldier I will wish to speak with you as well."

Minamoto nods, "Of course." Mingzhu doesn’t resist. T’kharr bides her time patiently. They place the two women in the brig. Zsikhou moves along, the other soldiers seem quite afraid to do anything with him, but he keeps close. The samurai and Minamoto leave.

Zsikhou lowers his voice, once they're alone in the room, then he sighs. "Well, that was a disaster." He rubs his muzzle.

"Aye. That was ugly." T’kharr sighs lowly, "We got ourselves stretched rather too thin."

"I am a community shamaness Zsikhou. I am supposed to be the bridge between the people and its rulers. It was the only thing I could do while keeping my principles. I am sorry. I must think of the greater purpose." Mingzhu says.

Zsikhou nods, "This one gets your duty. Probably should have re-assessed our tactics though. Trying to do such in the middle of a battle is often counter-productive. Think we should have focused more on securing the Magistrate's safety for our greater purpose, though..." The kobold sighs. "What do we do now, though...?"

Mingzhu nods, “We tried to make it before to save the magistrate so this could stop......to talk sense into the elder so this could stop.... Sadly, it did not work and now the dead and dying litter the field once again. Their spirits crying out.”

"I reckon that we sit tight for now. I have water breathing magic so we could go out via the water but that'd be at the cost of the vessel. I'd rather not resort to that...I reckon that either Minamoto might be able to talk the Samurai into letting us go, or Silgara and company will be able to sneak us out. We could also try using sanctuary magic for cover to sneak out if need be." T’kharr says trying to come up with a plan.

Zsikhou considers, "Escape at this juncture is going to be difficult. Unfortunately given this position this one saw..." The kobold considers "How likely do you expect the Daimyo's authorities will listen to us now?"

"I do not know Zsikhou. They are far to polarized to listen to reason. Much like Fwangzhu and Minamoto. I fear there will be far more deaths now. Not only here but on other islands. The people are being systematically extinguished not only by western instigators but by both the people themselves and the Daimyos men." Mingzhu comments. Then she looks down, "I am beginning to lose hope."

"The Daimyo's authorities need someone who can sit them down and re-discipline them. Not in the martial sense of 'following orders', but in the greater sense, the sense of 'what are we even doing here?' They're cogwheels with no sight of how the machine they're part of keeps putting the ball right into the goal they professed to defend." T’kharr says with great insight.

Zsikhou grumbles, shaking his head. "Can't even call in..." He pauses. "We needed this to get word to get the emperor to send support. Get these idiot humans to clean up their own mess. Because they don't seem able or willing to handle it. And what we found on that Island of Midnight..."

"I wonder if the inability to clean up their own mess is due to fiendish influence in the Daimyo's court..." T’kharr remarks.

Zsikhou grumbles, a nod "Entirely possible. We know that there are at least three forms of corruption at work."

T’kharr sighs and looks at the bars. "The worst part? Those who rule with an iron fist eventually put a quarrel through their own foot that way. Yet they are too blind to see that"

Zsikhou nods, he sighs. "Why this one wanted to ensure that this information got to the emperor’s court. Had at least the hope he could clean up the mess down here. Give some much needed support. We might still be able to. Is going to be more difficult now. Not sure how inclined they will be to believe us. They might just think we're mad or something." He grimaces.

"The wounded need healing. The dead need taken care of." Hopefully the souls here will seek the afterlife unlike Soljura." Mingzhu mutters.

Zsikhou shakes his head. "Need to tend to the subversive fiends first. Have to stop the bleeding before this place can heal."

"Aye, we need to find and put down the fiends, far easier said than done though." T’kharr agrees.

"That said, if the ship casts off before the party can reach us...I think our best bet would be to rest, then use Sanctuary to slip onto deck and I can Water Breathing you and me, then we jump in and swim back for the island." T’kharr mentions.

Zsikhou nods in turn. "We managed to find and destroy that midnight isle. And..." Zsikhou considers "That's one option. Other option is to wait and try to explain ourselves to the courts here. And hope they listen to us per our original mission to this island." The kobold looks to T'kharr and Mingzhu "What do you think?"

T’kharr looks over at Mingzhu. "Hm. Do you feel confident enough explaining the things that we'd otherwise want Silgara to explain?"

Mingzhu sighs, “Either way I will do my duty as a community shamaness and try to persuade whoever I need though if the Daimyo's court has been corrupted, I fear there is little hope for our lives. Whoever is the corrupting influence will be sure to make sure we never leave the court alive. We have already done too much damage to their intentions."

Zsikhou narrows his eyes. "This one will not allow that to happen. This one will execute everyone responsible if they do that."

"They may be more powerful than you Zsikhou." Mingzhu asserts.

T’kharr considers what Mingzhu said. "Part of the reason I'd much rather we have the full party at our sides in court, but I suspect that even without this last dustup, that wouldn't be possible. If nothing else, beyond the obvious, I suspect our most knowledgeable person in many of the...planar matters would be persona non grata for simply setting foot in the Daimyo's courts, even if they didn't know what she is"

Zsikhou shakes his head. "Figure Minamoto is going to tell them."

“Minamoto is shaded by his own drastically wrong opinions just as Fwangzhu is. I would not trust him to tell the full truth; without slanting it every way he can to his own purpose.” Mingzhu states.

"I honestly didn't realize that slipping to the city would be that easy -- had I had, I'd have kept my Sanctuary for my return with Minamoto." T’kharr laments.

Zsikhou sighs, nodding "Well, they might listen to this one... unless..." He frowns, looking aside, "Odds that the Daimyo's court has a Shaman?"

"Hm. If they had a goodly shaman on their court, I doubt they'd be this consistently bad. Possibly an evil shaman, though." T’kharr theorizes.

Zsikhou shrugs. "Shaman should still be in line with the gods of this land."

Mingzhu looks for a window or portal to see outside and finds none. T’kharr says, “"Aye, true. If they do not castoff by nightfall...I will rest and pray, have sanctuary blessings to spare in addition to the water breathing. If they cast off by morning time, we make our move at the dawn, you free us, you and I cast Water Breathing, we all sanctuary, head for the deck and jump in. Then swim back to the island, or our boat, depending on what a Locate Object gets us. If they do not castoff by morning, then I suspect our party will be able to reach us."

Eventually, Minamoto comes to check up on Mingzhu and T'kharr.

[Winterhawk99]

Balan’s group start to work their way to the docks area. He nods to Silgara, “That sounds like our best bet we all know I’m not sneaky.”

She nods "Right, I didn't prepare any disguise spells. Good luck out there." Silgara casts an invisibility on Nor'vee, he sneaks off. Silgara, Balan, and Fwangzhu hide in a home. Probably abandoned. Maybe the former owner was one of the rebels.

Fwangzhu looks over at Balan, snarling. "Okay, I think we need to discuss this. What the fuck were you and the others thinking?!? Letting the Daimyo's men butcher the people like that!! Fuck, those other two even paralyzed ME with their magic. So, part of me is thinking we should just say fuck them and keep going after the actual horrible shit out there. That is if I can even fucking trust you right now."

“I was doing my best to hold them from killing each other and getting them to stop but it seems that it wasn't enough.” Balan mutters.

"No fucking shit! They were already killing people! You want to gab; you might as well fucking do it before they start spilling blood. Now look at this shit. Whole lot of people dead, Daimyo's fuckers got away. Now half our fucking team is captured or probably defected by now." Fwangzhu snarls "Starting to think I would be better off working alone again. "Well, I'd love a fucking answer." Fwangzhu snarls at Balan.

Silgara huffs, "Keep your voice down, we might get overheard!"

Fwangzhu snarls, "Don't think I didn't notice how you hid and froze up in that battle."

Silgara looks over, "Before I pulled you out, you mean."

Balan looks at Fwangzhu. “We'll figure it out and get them away from them. I don’t have an answer for you right now just.... have hope otherwise to do whatever you want I’m not the mediator in this shit show that is this place.”

Fwangzhu snarls. "Thanks for the fucking non-answer."

Nor'vee eventually returns to Balan and group. "Nor'vee didn't see dog lady or Daimyo's man with us. Plenty other Daimyo men. Securing place. Seemed ready to depart. Fighting over. Heading to ship." Nor'vee squeaks after.

Silgara sighs, rubbing her face. "That means the rest of our companions are likely on the Daimyo's ship, and they're probably going to depart when they can."

“Then we should find a way on their ship or attach ourselves to it.” Balan insists.

Nor'vee looks over. "That's sounding really risky to Nor'vee. Lots of angry Daimyo men."

Silgara looks over to Balan. "I've only got one more casting of Dimension Door ready. Sounds like if we are going to get them now, we need to do it fast. Otherwise, we'll have to tail their ship to see where they land."

“That may be our only option, but where would we be put.” Balan responds.

Silgara shakes her head. "I can only take two with me per casting as well."

Balan looks concerned. “Well...that is a problem unless Nor'vee can get onto the ship quietly.”

"Single ramp, lots of guards. Not likely." Nor'vee squeaks.

Fwangzhu snarls "Why not just fucking axe as many of the shits as we can then? Unless you're all pussyfooting about fighting those jackasses?"

Nor'vee squeaks. "No, Nor'vee isn't interested in fighting Daimyo men. Not Nor'vee's fight. Owe you for Soljura, but not Nezumi's fight."

Silgara looks over "Fwangzhu you're barely standing, and even if we were willing to fight, which would kill any chances of us taking what we know to the Daimyo's and emperor's courts, there's also too many soldiers for us to fight off."

Fwangzhu snarls, then waves her off. "Well, why don't you just go get yourself fucking arrested by them then if you think that's such a fucking great idea." Fwangzhu snorts, then looks to Balan.

Well. I could do that, but it goes against everything I was trained for. I am a paladin and we do not answer to men’s demands.” Balan replies.

Fwangzhu snarls, "What part of that being trained for involves chickening out when some butchers come to commit a fucking massacre?"

Balan looks to Silgara Then back towards their boat to see what they are doing without being seen. Silgara breathes out a sigh. "Then, let’s try to get this done."

Nor'vee looks over. "Nor'vee doesn't want to become wanted hunted criminal to humans here." Balan's group heads back to the dock town.

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr gives a nod with slight relief at seeing Minamoto again. He does, however, have a displeased, hardened look at him. "Samurai ground you down?" T’kharr says with a soft frown on her muzzle.

"Shamaness, T'Kharr. I want an explanation from you. When I went to rescue the magistrate, I had done so with the expectation that you would not interfere with the Lord Samurai's duty. Yes, he did grind me down, and I tried to explain things as best I could. There is a lot more to cover. But for now, I want an explanation from you both. That savage who shared our company was responsible for the deaths of several of his men, and that reflects on myself as well as you, since he was in our company." Minamoto says. his tone stern.

"I tried my best to get him into a place where he wouldn't be a problem, but the Elder was as stubborn as the Samurai and refused to even talk while carrying on the fight. And restrained him for a significant length of time myself, when he tried to veer off on his own accord." T’kharr replies.

Mingzhu just stares at Minamoto just as sternly watching every movement of his face and reflecting on his inflections of voice. "I am a community shamaness. It is my duty to the celestial court to work with both the authority and the people through the elders. I cannot say anything until I hear why the people rebelled and what the elder has to say in the people’s best interest. I am sorry."

Minamoto looks over to T'kharr, then to Mingzhu. "The Daimyo's law and order was clear. You still interfered with the rightful authority." Minamoto paces some. "Your actions have put me in a precarious position as well."

"I did nothing but try to stop the fighting between both sides so that I could do my duties and mediate between elder representing the people and the magistrate." Mingzhu retorts.

Minamoto just gives a hard look to Mingzhu "In the middle of a battle, Shamaness?" He shakes his head "There's a time and place."

T’kharr stays silent and lets Mingzhu speak as she sees something in Mingzhu she has never seen before, anger and resolve. “

"I had to do what I could to stop the killing before this island becomes another Soljura. Even now the restless souls of those who died cry out."

Minamoto narrows his eyes. "We were only there to slay the rebels. Not everyone there."

"I'm sure that’s what they said at Soljura. You saw the results yourself. Now the whole of the island is cursed......unredeemable."

"That was a different situation. And I'm sure my lord had his reasons." Minamoto shakes his head.

"Think what you wish to think Minamoto."

T'kharr sighs at a thought that ran through her head, a soft frown on her muzzle again "I doubt any of the official paperwork survived the fire."

Balan's team eventually comes to the port town again. There's a few of the Daimyo's soldiers looking around, most seem to be on the boat that's still in the dock. There is a single pier, and a ramp going there. It looks quite heavily guarded. “Well, we have no chance in fighting through them. Should I give myself up to them if that is what you want.” Balan asks.

Silgara looks over "What are you...? Do you really think that will solve anything? Just puts you captured along with them."

Fwangzhu snarls. "If you’re dedicated to doing that then fuck, go right ahead. I'm not stopping you."

Nor'vee squeaks "Nor'vee think sensible thing is to pack up what we have and go."

“No, it’s probably not the best idea but how many options do we have other than waiting to see if they get released. They will sail off eventually.” Balan intones.

Minamoto looks to T'kharr. "For now, I will try my best to convince whichever authorities we are brought before what we have faced, and continued to face, are real. But your actions have not put you in a good light here."

T’kharr watches Mingzhu’s face harden all the more after that comment and replies to Minamoto, “Aye, we were behind the situation as soon as we landed on the isle...saving the magistrate might have helped us in some regards but at the same time, we'd probably have had to save the elder as well to have the full story..."

Minamoto shakes his head. "You should have focused on the magistrate. Not a treacherous Elder."

"Part of the reason I did what I did was to not leave the badger to his own devices, as well...." T’kharr pleads.

Minamoto at least nods to that. "His life is forfeit now; he's slain some of the Daimyo's men."

T’kharr nods. "Besides, I suspect that even had we gotten to the magistrate...hm. did you ever actually get a look at his body?"

"I did, slain by rebels. He and his guards. I had slain the rebels. But I was too late to reach him." Minamoto says.

T’kharr nods slightly, “Aye, Nor'vee mentioned finding him stabbed, now that I'm recalling..."

Minamoto nods to T'kharr "They were correct. Where did they flee off to? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. They were not with us for a lengthy period of time."

"Mingzhu and Balan were in the thick of things, trying to get the samurai to take even a moment to speak instead of having blinders on." T’kharr insists.

"He was busy dealing with rebels and commanding his own forces, T'kharr." Minamoto says with an edge.

"Aye, both him and the elder had no sense of any sort of bigger picture, and I think they were so far in themselves that they didn't even think that they could have temporarily delegated tactical command to a lieutenant or such to free up their own brain. So, two sides of one coin, no?" T’kharr smirks. Minamoto just shakes his head while she continues. "I'm mildly impressed that the Samurai's forces were able to march that quickly though. You'd think a significant force like that would be easy to beat in a footrace" she gives a slight chuckle.

"We did take a round-about route." Minamoto mentions. Mingzhu begins to meditate.

"Aye, we did have to steer clear of their forces lest they just jump us on sight or the badger..." T’kharr mentions.

"They would not have. They were after rebels, not us. Of course..." He pauses. "Yes, that Savage was going to be a problem. I had warned you of them many times." Minamoto huffs. Then he shakes his head. "I'd better speak with the Samurai. I expect he will want to speak with the rest of you as well. But for now, I should be off." Minamoto turns to leave.

"Aye. Burdens be eased." T’kharr sounds off.

Silgara looks at Balan. "I suppose if you want to risk it, surrendering to try to explain yourself and pass knowledge to the courts... it's going to be a highly risky proposition, and I cannot go with you if you do that. Given my profession I would be executed."

“Then you propose we wait and watch?” Balan asks.

Silgara gives a heavy sigh, "I don't know. We can either go after them now, try to tail them and then spring them out wherever we go, or..." She frowns, looking aside.

Fwangzhu snorts. "Could just fucking forget them since they surrendered and go somewhere else."

Silgara looks aside to Balan. "What's your call then?"

Fwangzhu snorts. "Personally, I'd say the best place I could be is finding those Corsairs and whichever of Zuodong's fuckers paid them to raid the islands here, but what the fuck do I know?" He snarls.

“Let's wait and see what happens. If they attempt to leave, then I will be a distraction.” Balan says.

After an hour's time they see the Daimyo’s men filing back onto the ship. It seems they’re getting ready to depart.

[Winterhawk99]

Minamoto leaves them in the brig. After he does Mingzhu looks at T’kharr. "I will never walk with Minamoto again."

Zsikhou clicks his tongue. Then he sighs. "Maybe this one should speak with that Samurai. They might be inclined to listen to this one, even if they're not inclined to do so with you."

"He has his own blinders on, it seems" T’kharr gives a sigh to Mingzhu, then a nod to Zsikhou "Aye, best ye take the lead in that discussion."

Then Zsikhou looks over. "Though... this one will say that it might have been more prudent to attempted speaking with the Daimyo's force at the docks before they joined battle rather than... after it started."

"Aye, I think the pace of everything caught us off guard, backfooted us." T’kharr agrees.

Zsikhou nods there. "Decisive action was needed there." He sighs, "Though this one understands. We went in there without knowing fully what was going on. Making decisions in such circumstances is difficult."

"We had no time Zsikhou.” Mingzhu replies.

"Aye, even had we rescued the magistrate, I doubt the samurai would have been any bit impressed." T’kharr states.

"He might have been." Zsikhou shrugs, "Will have to see if he's more reasonable now, at least." ... He pauses, "Do you plan to appear before the Daimyo's court if they take us to there? Assuming that's what they'll do."

"If they give us the chance, then yes, that's our best option." T’kharr nods.

Zsikhou nods, then he looks over at Mingzhu. She says, "I honestly do not know what to do Zsikhou. I feel broken and sad that so many died that we could not get there in time to save three islands."

"Our duty's not yet done, and we know it will only get worse if we do nothing. You need to hold it together, Shamaness." Zsikhou says.

"Aye, we have to pick ourselves up and keep fighting." T’kharr insists.

Mingzhu looks around while thinking. T’kharr again sees her face harden and wonders about it. The shamaness suddenly asks, “Zsikhou can you free me of these shackles?” He moves over and picks the locks on them. They click off.

Mingzhu stands up and closes her eyes meditating on the water surrounding the ship. She starts to chant softly while throwing out her arms and moving her hands and wrists slowly in an upward movement. The front of the ship starts to lift. Zsikhou looks at her oddly at first wondering what she is doing.

T’kharr becomes frightened and asks him, "If you'd unshackle me as well?" quietly, to Zsikhou "Want to be ready for whatever move Mingzhu wants us to make. I think it’s going to be bad.” He unshackles her too. The whole of the room pitches impossibly up towards the front. Then they feel the whole of the ship start to slide backward.

As the water crests, Mingzhu releases it to throw the ship the rest of the way into town with a tidal wave. The ship groans rocks and they can hear horrendous scraping sounds along the whole of the hull. The ship shudders as it rocks towards the town, there's some panic aboard

Outside Balan’s group sees the Daimyo’s start to unleash the moorings for their ship. He looks to Silgara, “Trail them on boat or do I cause a distraction?”

Silgara looks back to Balan "Invisibility won't mute sounds and only lasts a few minutes."

“I'd be able to make noise to confused them and cause a short distraction.” Balan nods.

Silgara looks over "Then what?"

“If enough come off the ship the path could clear for you to board and find a place to hide.”

"That is... extremely risky. Even with an invisibility, I'd need to find where T'Kharr and Mingzhu are, then dimension door them out. I'd need to make the whole trip there. I don't know their boat layout and there's a lot of guards." Silgara replies. "I can try it though." Silgara nods.

“If it isn’t possible then we trail them with our boat. Or we...” Balan trails off at that as he sees the front of the Daimyo’s ship rise along with the water surrounding it in a 70ft long wave that is rising impossibly high. The water starts to cover the dock and surrounding area. Water starts spilling over into the town. It rises at the bow of the ship 35 feet. Everyone in the area starts to run. Men on the top deck of the ship start to scream holding on to whatever they can.

The ship slides down as the wave seems to stop with its 35 ft crest a moment. The ship slides down the backside and wedges itself between a neighborhood of homes. Then the wave seems to be released spilling millions of gallons of water into the city. It rushes forward but isn’t powerful enough to destroy any homes. As it washes past the streets in the vicinity become flooded with knee-deep water.

Balan watches stunned, “The hells? They aren’t leaving now.

Silgara’s mouth drops open, “Somebody’s pissed.”

Nor’vee shudders.

[Winterhawk99]

Zsikhou looks over, not really seeing what's going on from the inside. "Well, guess we're busting out then?"

"Reckon so, once things come to a stop." T’kharr screams while holding on for dear life. Zsikhou looks over to Mingzhu, like he's waiting for the next part of her plan.

"They have no ship now. They can’t move so many tons back to the sea.” Mingzhu says.

Zsikhou looks over "Okay, quick, next part of the plan."

Mingzhu smiles, “We try to get out of here.”

Zsikhou picks the lock on the brig door. While T’kharr just shakes her head. "Scrambling out in the chaos, it seems." He opens the door and punches the two guards’ unconscious as they are already confused and frightened about what just happened.

They roll out, scrambling as fast as they can. T'kharr isn't really bothering with fighting anyone unless she has to. Mingzhu runs through the door and checks the hull for any punctures or if it was broken anywhere. “We need to check the hull to see if there is a breach big enough for us to escape...”

"Think diplomacy is out of the question now." Zsikhou says, though he already picked the locks on your shackles and the door to the brig.” He looks around. “It doesn’t look like it.

"Aye, we're moving" T’kharr says as she ushers the party forward and out of the brig. "Even without that, if we can get up top in the chaos...I can try grabbing Mingzhu and flying off"

“Well then I guess we try to sneak out somehow." Mingzhu says, then nods to T’kharr’s idea.

"We'll have to move really quickly to make this work, and Zsikhou...you'll just have to sneak/scamper off." T’kharr reports.

"This one can hide, if you have a plan with your magic, do it!" Zsikhou hisses. T’kharr nods and scoops up Mingzhu, trying to sprint for the upper deck best she can.

It seems that while some of the soldiers were stunned, there’s going to be some in the way. T’kharr casts Longstrider on herself for speed and tries to rush by the soldiers. Though most are in fact stunned or in shock some are not. T’kharr takes a dagger in the outer thigh as she goes by one of them. She makes it to the top deck, casts a flight blessing, and takes to the skies!

Some of the soldiers get out their bows. Mingzhu calls out, “Dump me in the ocean if you must, T’kharr.” The priestess keeps hold of Mingzhu and flies as fast as she can trying to get out of archery range. She takes an arrow in the calf but keeps going.

Silgara looks over to Balan. "Looks like they're trying a breakout then... plan?"

“Well...this changes things. We have the only ship now. That’s a bargaining chip.” Balan says.

Fwangzhu snorts at Balan. "Hope you got the chickenshit about fighting out of you because they're going to be swinging to kill now."

Silgara looks over to Balan "They'll likely be able to push it out with enough effort and time but that did buy some time. However, it's likely they might just execute the both of them now."

Silgara looks up, "There!"

Nor'vee looks over "Looks like they've angered the soldiers lots!"... T’kharr hearing the voice zips down towards it. Some soldiers advance, Silgara casts a Glitterdust on them. All three are blinded.

T’kharr lands and sets Mingzhu on her feet. The shamaness dusts herself off and comments, “They may be a little angry I shipwrecked them.”

Fwangzhu snarls and draws his axe at the remaining soldiers. He snarls, “Lets fucking get em!"

Nor'vee squeaks "You badly wounded against whole army? Time to run and hide, now!"

"We can't, not at this point." T’kharr snarls.

“Well not alone…” Balan draws his sword and follows along.

"Silgara looks over, a sigh* "Time to go now. Come on."

"Our best move is to get out of here, because they well...can't." T’kharr emphatically states. Silgara casts expeditious retreat.

Mingzhu asks, “Is the Elder still alive?” As she runs following Silgara.

“Silgara boat and ill protect against oncoming forces.” Balan yells out.

"I haven't a clue, he was last I saw of him, but I don't think sticking around is going to be wise" T’kharr says nodding to Balan as she follows Silgara coastward to where they can get in-boat

"Elder dead. Come on. Time to go!" Nor'vee squeaks again. Fwangzhu snarls, like he wants to go killing the Daimyo's soldiers, but he opts to retreat too.

"And I should have mentioned to Zsikhou that he should grab my staff and sling from wherever they got stashed. Hopefully he's able to pick up on that on his own at least."

Silgara casts a haste on the group to help you flee faster. But there's more soldiers coming out, that Samurai and Minamoto among them. "Let’s get to the sea as fast as possible." Mingzhu screams.

Silgara gets the boat set up, then looks around. "Where's the kobold?"

T’kharr calls out, “Sneaking out, we had to leave him behind."

Silgara curses, "They can hide pretty well but we're... damn it, we need to leave now. Everyone aboard, now!"

Everyone scrambles aboard. "Pilot the boat away, I can still cast invisibility once more, and a dimension door. I'll grab the kobold." Silgara says.

T’kharr pushes off once everyone is onboard with Silgara. Nor’vee squeaks, “You nuts?! Trying to find someone, invisible, who's hiding, and in the middle of hostile forces?"

Silgara realizes this, then sighs, getting aboard "We'll have to find something for him later, then."

“I can swim to get him.” Mingzhu says.

"No time, the Daimyo's forces are going to be after us. Time to go!" Silgara says, going to pilot the ship.

"Aye, and he's used water breathing magic in the past, so if we just sort of sit offshore a bit, we can let him come to us." T’kharr mistakenly surmises.

"He can't do that anymore, T'kharr!" Silgara says. "His patron withdrew his blessing." Silgara says tersely as she pilots the ship wheel.

"Ah, rats." T’kharr exclaims.

Balan uses his detect evil to see if Zsikhou is on the ship. He gets nothing. Mingzhu says, “I can still swim to shore tomorrow and get him.”

The Daimyo's men are still trying to move on their position, but they do have enough distance to set sail. Balan says, “I can’t feel him, but we need to move I will focus more to see if he is maybe close.”

"Go! Go! We can come back." Mingzhu yells out. T’kharr helps Silgara set for the sea. Balan breaks himself away and helps with the sails. Mingzhu puts her back into it too. The boat sails off, the Daimyo's men are shouting, but they can't reach it, eventually they get out of shooting distance as well... Fwangzhu has a bow out, ready to shoot back, but he doesn't get the chance, too much distance lapses. Eventually, they’re surrounded by sea, and Renkao is out of sight.

[Winterhawk99]

T’kharr sighs with mild relief. Fwangzhu shoves the bow away, then he looks over to T'Kharr and Mingzhu with an angry snarl. Mingzhu commands, "Lets weigh anchor and decide what to do next."

"Aye. I'm thinking Mingzhu swims back for the Kobold if she feels confident enough, she can evade the Daimyo's men. Long term though...this is going to be a right mess to unravel, and I haven't a clue how we're going to approach the court after this." T’kharr suggests.

"We need to have a fucking talk about that shit that went down." Fwangzhu growls, "What the FUCK were you thinking?! The Daimyo's shits just did a fucking massacre there and the BOTH of you held me and did jack fucking shit to stop them!! What was going through your thick skulls?! Because I'd really love a fucking answer!"

Balan shifts a barrel on deck and sits on it. Nor'vee sniffs some, he also looks unsettled. "Likely all of us are going to be considered fugitives by the Daimyo humans now. Nor'vee owes you for help on Soljura, but this is a lot more than Nor'vee asked for. Didn't want to become fugitive. Or put colony in danger."

Mingzhu looks sternly at Fwangzhu. “The whole idea Fwangzhu was to get the two sides to stop fighting without fighting ourselves so we could negotiate a truce and find out what the hells started all this. Some broke that and took sides. If we could have saved the magistrate and the Elder things may have gone well but they didn't. Anyway, if I go to shore to find Zsikhou I'll need a diversion. I'll use my call nature spell to summon a fire elemental to light as much flammable material on that ship as I can while looking for him. They will be so preoccupied with that they won’t be looking for me. and it will permanently down the ship for good."

"I could have fucking told you that if you bothered to explain what was going on beforehand!" Fwangzhu snarls, "Josou's a fucking corrupt stickler for every law, definitely abusing every word to put down people, then they got sick of his shit and wanted to string him up. I'd have helped them if I'd have gotten my claws on that piece of shit. Happy?!" Fwangzhu snarls "Oh, what, now you're willing to stand against the corrupt Daimyo? Bout fucking time." He huffs, snarling, looking away for a moment.

"The world is not as black and white as you think , Fwangzhu! I am tired of this just leave me be." Mingzhu threatens.

Nor'vee looks at Mingzhu. "Nor'vee is not fond of that plan. Is your choice to do that, but Nor'vee does not want to become wanted by Daimyo by associating with you if you do that."

"Your right Nor'vee. It may end up killing someone. I'll think of something else.” Mingzhu sighs.

"Shamaness is probably going to have a bounty already thanks to capsizing their boat. That was you, right? Wasn't one of us." Nor'vee squeaks, then looks off.

Fwangzhu snarls, "Oh you're tired. Great. You're not the only one, you know."

Silgara sighs, "As soon as that ship touches to Kaluso's heartlands, Minamoto's probably going to give detailed descriptions of all of us at the very least. We're going to need a plan. Both to find Zsikhou and for... what to do next."

"I'm ready to give up on saving these people and go home really. The southern islands of Kaluso's domain is already in complete ruins. There is not much we can do now that I have lost any kind of Balance. It was Minamoto's smugness that finally pushed me over the edge." Mingzhu observes.

"Aye, his lack of self-reflection was one of his most galling traits." T’kharr agrees.

Fwangzhu snorts, "Took you fucking long enough." He growls, huffing "Kaluso's been keeping most of his forces on the northern islands. We go there, and we’re going to be swimming in his jackasses."

Silgara looks over. "That means we might need to branch our searches into either Zuodong's or Yasima's domains. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of leads regarding Yasima's domain, but we do at least know that Zuodong's official had been paying the corsairs to raid Kaluso's domain. We might be able to follow that lead, at least."

"Aye, worth a shot investigating Zuodong's domain at least, even if we might be in for a real frosty time if we ever find ourselves back in court." T’kharr surmises.

Silgara sighs, "Think that's a dead end, now. Especially if word of what we did to that ship gets out."

"Natural disaster. Tidal waves do happen.” Mingzhu insists.

“Aye!” T’kharr winks.

Fwangzhu snorts. "And you escaped from that boat. They'll assume you and the Kami pulled some shit."

Silgara sighs, looking over. "Do we have a plan for finding Zsikhou, or... in case we can't recover him?"

Mingzhu meditates a moment then says, “Once I rest, I may be able to use dream sight.”

Silgara sighs, "I'll see if I have anything in my spellbook that can help. I figure the moment they find out he's lost his blessing; they'll execute him. I suppose I'm glad we never shared that with Minamoto."

“Zsikhou can still see spirits if I use Dream Sight my spirit leaves my body and I can travel really fast He can spot my spirit and follow it to a place I can pick him up.” Mingzhu insists.

"Can he? Or did he need his patron's blessing to do that?" Silgara looks over.

"Can he? Or did he need his patron's blessing to do that?" Silgara looks over.

“He could last time I used commune with spirit.” Mingzhu nods. “He could also hear the spirit so I can speak in spirit, and he will be able to hear me.”

Silgara looks in the distance and nods. Fwangzhu just growls and storms off… still shaking with rage. "Would the Daimyo's men be able to see and hear those spirits though?" Silgara inquires.

“Only if they have a shaman with them.” Mingzhu affirms.

"Nor'vee can try tracking the Kami. Won't be easy with all of the Daimyo's men though." Nor'vee mentions.

"How come Zsikhou can do it, then?" Silgara raises an eyebrow.

“Honestly, I do not know Silgara.” Mingzhu shrugs.

"I had assumed it might have been part of his patron's blessing but…" Silgara considers, then shakes her head.

“Perhaps being a kami so long he is now attuned to them just as much as me, but I really do not know. I know the last spirit angered him when it gave me a vague answer.” Mingzhu answers.

"If he's in-hiding though, how will that spirit find him?" Silgara considers.

Nor'vee looks off, then looks to T'kharr, "What is your colony doing next then?"

Mingzhu considers the quandary for some time then says, “I have seven minutes to find him, and it will be my own spirit I will call out to him while moving around the area telling him to go to the shore. Then swim along it to try to find him. It’s all I have. Other than calling an ally that he recognizes but that puts me in danger because Minamoto will recognize the summons too.

Silgara nods "Hope that is enough. Renkao's a large island and he's probably going to be trying to avoid the Daimyo's men. I'll go study my spellbook, maybe if I can think of something..." Silgara considers, then she looks to Balan. "I guess we're taking shifts then?"

T’kharr holds up her hand, “Aye. I’m in too.”

Silgara sighs, then nods, then goes below deck to study up.

Nor'vee's nose twitches, then looks to T'kharr and Mingzhu "Want to know since this is going to be important going forward. Is your colony planning on fighting the Daimyo's men if it comes to that?"

“Only if absolutely necessary, Nor’vee,” Mingzhu says with some empathy.

"Aye, only if they leave us without choice." T’kharr adds.

Nor'vee nods, nose twitching. "Still going to make us wanted criminals doing that."

"Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that then." Mingzhu comments.

Everyone separates either to take watch or down to the decks to rest. Mingzhu and T’kharr mediate at down.